John Good is well known throughout the West, South, Midwest and in his native Wales as a multi-instrumentalist, Welsh piper, singer/songwriter, storyteller, composer and poet. John Good and Liz Warren''s performance of ''Pwyll Prince of Dyfed'' is available as a digital download on this page or below.

To coincide with the launch of the digital download on AmeriCymu, we interviewed John about the importance of the Mabinogion in his life and work.

AmeriCymru: What is the Mabinogion? Does it have a theme or purpose? Why were these particular stories gathered in one volume?

John: In the first place, the word Mabinogion is probably a scribal error institutionalized by Lady Guest, the work’s first major translator. The common Welsh plural suffix …ion seems to be an understandable mistake on the part of the probably monastic scribe who, although not the author, collected and wrote down these tales in Dyfed(?) and they should probably be called Mabinogi. With either spelling, the word is not fully understood. Mab means son and the most commonly agreed upon meaning is something like the life/instruction/biography/rites of passage (?) of the Prince (Pryderi). This name, whatever it might have conveyed to medieval taffies, is rightly only applied to the first four stories (branches), in which, in varying degrees of focus, we are told about Pryderi’s birth, upbringing, recovered birthright, manhood and death. In Branwen, for example he is barely mentioned; in Manawydan he is a major character, leading many commentators to believe we only have preserved incomplete tangled threads of this and a vast web of native tales that went the way of much material of the ancient oral tradition. The other tales in the collection are mainly of later collection/writing (Culwch ac Olwen might be earlier) and some show the influence of continental literature. But throughout the collection, fully integrated almost casual magic and the infrequent light Christian overlay, suggest a distant and probably pagan age as the genesis point of at least some of the material.

To try to answer the second and third parts of your question, I’d say that Lady Guest was just translating earlier Welsh language collections, excluding some of the material and including a number of these old Welsh stories that attracted and motivated her to seek out literary/linguistic knowledge and help, and God bless her for doing it! The four branches have a common theme: The subtle instruction by a scribal monk (?) of a warlike elite that discretion is often better than rash valour which, with the ever present and increasing threat across Offa’s Dike was pertinent; at the same time that leaders should be wisely decisive and also, that dabbling in deception and magic leads to bad ends. This is my opinion and far from universally accepted. I’ll get back to that at a later date. The other tales, like all good stories outline various moral strengths/weaknesses along with the results of wisdom and rashness. But we must never forget that these stories were meant as after-repast entertainment for the ruling classes, drawing on real/perceived and mythic history/genealogy; medieval interests, customs, law and etiquette; magic and wonders; humor, dark-age in-jokes and commonly known allusions; romance and chastity; mystery and revelation and not to forget heroism and armed conflict. In other words, the so called ‘Mabinogion’ is a pre-Norman-dominance, native Welsh Netflix.

AmeriCymru: H ow important is the Mabinogion in Welsh literature? How would you advise new readers or students to approach the work?

John: The tales are amongst the earliest recorded Welsh prose tales in the Welsh language (11th or 12th centuries). They provide a fairly detailed picture of early Welsh life, albeit mainly the ruling and semi-divine classes and thereby a context for other Welsh literature, particularly poetry. King Arthur makes a very early literary appearance which has importance for a world-wide literary character-obsession that continues to this day and hour. Once the 20th century vitriolic and historically short-sighted literati were superseded by equally brilliant yet compassionate modern commentators, the scribe of the four-branch Mabinogi is being recognized as a master of his craft rather than a confused monk who didn’t understand his material. In a word, dare I say they show strong elements of masterpiece, if we can ever forget the nearly thousand intervening years and embrace the different yet fully developed and sophisticated native minds of a society that was capable of much more than internecine blood baths and probably, after 1066, found the invading William the Bastard as a very dangerous churl.

So to answer the second part of the question (How would you advise new readers or students to approach the work?), open your mind/intellect/imagination; slip back a millennium, imagining yourself in the hall, at table, warmed by the fire and a glass or two of mead, beer or wine; loosening a couple of bodice buttons when the ‘storyteller’ steps up and the general conversation ebbs.

AmeriCymru: What is your personal relationship with the work? What does the Mabinogion mean to you?

John: I am a proud Welshman and Welsh speaker. When I read the tales, especially in the original Welsh – with aid from Ifor Williams’ notes, a historical vocabulary and modern dictionary – I feel connected to past greatness and an otherwise often allusive magical experience of belonging. These days when I visit my home town and see the Golden Arches peddling chemically altered trash to increasingly overweight local kids, I sometimes despair. When I sit by the gentle and wise giant Bendigeidfran (Bran the Blessed) as he skillfully avoids Celtic mayhem breaking out with Ireland, I am recharged and ready to do what I can to preserve and even strengthen the remnants of a once and future culture!

AmeriCymru: There have been several translations of the text. Which one would you recommend?

John: I have always liked Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones’ version. Sioned Davies, Gantz and Ford are all good but Lady Guest’s version is still a quaint classic. If you’re a Welsh learner, there are any number of children’s versions in accessible Welsh. For more advanced speakers/readers, the version by Dafydd a Rhiannon Ifans is hard to find but lovely and, to read the original, go to the classic Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi gan Ifor Williams.

AmeriCymru: What in your opinion is the most interesting or significant of these tales and why?

John: I don’t really have a favorite, but like all aging children I delight in the magical parts, especially the dragons which leads me to Ludd a Llefelys. As for interesting and significant, Manawydan fab Llyr ties up loose ends from Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed, encapsulates what I take to be the overall message (discretion trumping valour) of the four branches and is very cleverly put together. You also see our scribe clearly using the techniques of oral storytelling … repetition of stock phrases and scenarios; mystery and marvels; use and integration of separate tales and an almost parable-like underlying fabric. Culwch ac Olwen is the wildest, may be the oldest, not to mention that a pre-Chretien De Troyes - and tantalizingly different - King Arthur graces the pages.

AmeriCymru: Why did you choose Pwyll for your first recording with Mythic Crew?

John: It’s the first. You know, on page one. [Sorry Ceri!] We also worked on, performed and recorded Branwen (to be available later) and would like to do the lot. The interesting thing about this project is that we present the stories as contemporary oral storytelling with musical accompaniment. We are not reading from a script, and the music is structured improvisation, making for sometimes considerable variations and fresh audience interaction each time, which may well be the way they were given before they were written down. So, we are recreating traditional yet contemporary oral performances based on a textual interpretation of an even earlier oral repertoire; the wheel having taken a leisurely multi-millennial and complete revolution. But, pretention aside, it’s a hell of a lot of fun and a great thrill to do the research, discuss and agree on the slant/pitch of the tale - trying to respect the original - then rehearse, add the music and step out into that circle of light and bring these ancient Welsh classics back to life for a new century of listeners.. so there!